Inked: Basketball players show what kind of art is hiding underneath their jersey

Stephon Marbury and the "3" tattoo on his head. Carmelo Anthony and the "WB" Warner Bros. logo on his chest for West Baltimore. Chris Andersen and his Birdman wings on his arms. LeBron James with "Chosen 1" across his back.Allen Iverson, JR Smith, Jason Williams, and Kenyon Martin are all basketball players with distinctive body art. In the basketball world, more and more players get tattoos.


That extends to DePaul basketball as well.


"You see a lot of people with tattoos, even if they have one or just a lot," said Brandon Young, a freshman guard on the men's team. "Most basketball players have tattoos."


Young has 11 tattoos, and a few of them are meaningful tattoos of his family. He has his mom's name on his right wrist and also has a tattoo of his deceased dad and brother's names, with angel wings on the side of it.


"They mean a lot to me, so I just put them on my body," he said. "When I look at them, it makes me work even harder."


China Threatt, a senior guard on the women's team, also has a memorial tattoo.


She has "My Fallen Soldier" tattooed on her right forearm, with praying hands holding dog tags in between.


She got the tattoo in honor of her brother.


"I had gotten injured and I had surgery a day or two before he died, and the couple days after, the day before the funeral, I went and got the tattoo," Threatt said. "I was on crutches, getting the tattoo, and I was on pain medication too."


Some players have motivational tattoos.


Taylor Pikes, a junior guard/forward on the women's team, has a rose on her right leg with her mother's name on it.


She's proud of it and likes that "everybody can see it, especially when I'm playing ball," said Pikes.


Young has a tattoo that says "Baller's Life" across his chest.



Threatt has a tattoo of the Michael Jordan quote, "Some want it to happen, some wish it to happen, I make it happen" with a basketball and stars. It gives her inspiration and "it makes me want to go harder," said Threatt.


When it comes to tattoos, the most notable inked-up player is Krys Faber, a junior center on the men's team. He has seven tattoos, with more to come, he said.


Even more impressive, he designed all of the tattoos himself.


Faber has a memorial tattoo, a cross with a basketball on his upper right arm, with "In Loving Memory" and his grandmother's name along with it.


"It's about how she's pushed me to continue to do well in life, being able to get an education with basketball," said Faber.


Faber has motivational tats as well, with "LOVE/PAIN" on his right wrist and "SAINT/SINNER" on his left. On his chest, he has a tattoo showing a slash with a basketball.


"I still need to add more to it," Faber said, "But it's supposed to be symbolic to where my heart's supposed to be."


The coaching staffs of both teams do not have any restrictions on athlete body art.


"There are no rules that I heard of," said Young. Mostly, the players with tattoos face minor problems with their own families.


"The only person I can think of is probably my aunt," said Faber. "She's really old-fashioned, real old-school, and tattoos in general she's been against since the get-go. She especially doesn't like the one on my forearm because it is visible."


Faber is referring to a black-and-white tattoo of three skulls, with the "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" motif. Threatt said that her mom does not like that she has so many big tattoos and Pikes said her grandma is not particularly fond of hers either.


"My grandma tells me to stop getting them," said Pikes. "But I never will.